Inside the Ultra Peptide Duo: Why the Serum and Cream Come as a Pair

The Ultra Peptide Duo is our peptide serum and our peptide night cream, sold together because they are made to be used together. Both carry the same three peptides, Argireline, Matrixyl 3000 and Snap-8, chosen to help fine lines and expression lines look softer. The serum gets the peptides into the skin in a light, fast-absorbing base; the cream follows with a rich layer that holds moisture in overnight. Used in that order each evening, skin looks smoother and brighter by morning. This is a look at how the two formulas are built, and why one works better with the other.

Two formulas, two jobs

A serum and a cream do different work, even when they share their key ingredients. A serum is thin and quick to absorb, so it can carry ingredients into the skin without anything heavy in the way. A cream is richer, so it sits on the surface longer, slows the loss of moisture and leaves skin feeling cushioned.

The Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Face Serum is the first kind: silky, light and absorbed within a minute, leaving skin soft, supple and luminous without heaviness. The Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Night Cream is the second: velvety and generous, it melts under your fingertips and settles into a soft layer you feel until morning. Together they give the peptides two chances to work, and give skin both a light step and a sealing one.

The three peptides they share

• Matrixyl 3000 is a pair of palmitoyl peptides that encourage skin to keep up its collagen. It works on the fine lines that show even when your face is still, and it takes eight to twelve weeks of steady use.
• Argireline is a six-amino-acid peptide that softens the small muscle movements behind expression lines, the creases at the brow and the corners of the eyes. People tend to notice it sooner, within a month or so.
• Snap-8 is an eight-amino-acid relative of Argireline that works on the same expression lines.

Most faces have both kinds of line, which is why the formulas combine a collagen-signaling peptide with two expression-line peptides rather than relying on one.

What surrounds the peptides

The serum's base is rosehip seed oil, light and fast-absorbing. Centella asiatica gives it a calm, comfortable feel, sodium hyaluronate helps skin hold moisture, and ascorbyl palmitate, a vitamin C ester, adds brightness alongside vitamin E. It is naturally preserved with Leucidal, a radish root ferment.

The night cream builds on the same idea with more cushion. Rosehip seed oil, sorbitol and sodium hyaluronate give lasting moisture; centella keeps the feel calm; ascorbyl palmitate and vitamin E add antioxidant care and a brighter look. It is also preserved with Leucidal, and it comes in a generous 4 oz jar meant for steady nightly use. Every ingredient is listed in our Ingredient Library.

Where they are made

Almost everything we sell is made by hand in our Williamsburg workshop, in batches of 50 to 100. The two Ultra Peptide formulas are the exception, and the only exception: a specialist cosmetic lab makes them for us. They are our most intensive formulas, and we would rather tell you where they come from than let the rest of the line speak for them.

Who the duo is for

The serum suits normal, dry, combination, mature and sensitive skin, and the duo suits anyone who wants to work on fine lines and expression lines in one short evening routine. It is a good fit if retinol has been too harsh for you, since peptides do not bring the redness and peeling that retinol often does. If you already use a retinoid, keep it for its own nights; the duo's product page asks you to skip retinoids on the nights you use the pair.

It is less suited to anyone who wants a morning product. Both formulas are made for the evening, and the cream is rich enough that it belongs at the end of the day.

Where the two formulas appear in our other sets

The serum and the night cream also appear, separately or together, in several of our sets, each built around a different routine:

• The Youth Trifecta adds The Royal Kalahari Face Serum for the morning, with the peptide serum and night cream at night.
• The Power Couple pairs the peptide serum with The Royal Kalahari Face Serum.
• The Midnight Glow pairs the night cream with The Midnight Youth Potion.
• The Youth Authority Face Set brings the night cream together with The Royal Kalahari Face Serum, the Under Eye and Lip Serum Roller Oil and Gold Under Eye Masks.
• The Complete Face Serum Collection includes the peptide serum with our other three face serums.

For the step-by-step evening routine, see how to use the Ultra Peptide Duo.

Questions about the Ultra Peptide Duo

Is the Ultra Peptide Duo two serums?

No. It is one serum and one night cream: the Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Face Serum and the Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Night Cream.

Is the Ultra Peptide Duo handmade?

No. Both formulas are made for us by a specialist cosmetic lab. They are the one exception to our handmade line.

Can I buy the serum and the night cream separately?

Yes. Each has its own product page, and the duo puts the two together.

Is the duo suitable for sensitive skin?

The serum lists sensitive skin among the types it suits, and centella asiatica in both formulas keeps the feel calm and comfortable. As with anything new, try it on a small area first.